$900,000 prize still at stake

Published: Tuesday, January 29, 2013 at 09:27 PM.

MOREHEAD CITY — Jacksonville angler John Parks has fished two more Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournaments since a legal dispute stemming from the 2010 tournament.

How the case plays out determines top place and a $900,000 prize in the 2010 tournament. A piece of that prize would be nice but with the case now nearly three years old, Parks is ready to see it come to a conclusion.

“I wish it could be done with; I’m ready to see it resolved,” Parks said this week, days after learning the latest in the court battle.

While he’s not a party to the suit, he is impacted by its result.

Parks was an angler on the Carnivore in 2010 when he reeled in a 528.3 pound marlin on the third day of the tournament. When a mammoth first-place catch of an 883-pound marlin was disqualified, Parks’ catch was in position to move into first place.

The legal dispute over the disqualification has kept the 2010 standings in question, but the case appears to be moving closer to a finish after a lengthy appeals process that took the case all the way to the state’s highest court.

On Friday, the N.C. Supreme Court issued an opinion that is favorable toward the owners of the Hatteras-based Citation, who have been fighting the disqualification of their 883-pound catch.

MOREHEAD CITY — Jacksonville angler John Parks has fished two more Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournaments since a legal dispute stemming from the 2010 tournament.

How the case plays out determines top place and a $900,000 prize in the 2010 tournament. A piece of that prize would be nice but with the case now nearly three years old, Parks is ready to see it come to a conclusion.

“I wish it could be done with; I’m ready to see it resolved,” Parks said this week, days after learning the latest in the court battle.

While he’s not a party to the suit, he is impacted by its result.

Parks was an angler on the Carnivore in 2010 when he reeled in a 528.3 pound marlin on the third day of the tournament. When a mammoth first-place catch of an 883-pound marlin was disqualified, Parks’ catch was in position to move into first place.

The legal dispute over the disqualification has kept the 2010 standings in question, but the case appears to be moving closer to a finish after a lengthy appeals process that took the case all the way to the state’s highest court.

On Friday, the N.C. Supreme Court issued an opinion that is favorable toward the owners of the Hatteras-based Citation, who have been fighting the disqualification of their 883-pound catch.

The Supreme Court agreed with the dissenting opinion of the Court of Appeals in the case and remanded the case back to the appeals court to remand back to the Superior Court.

Andy Gay, one of the attorneys representing the Citation owners in their appeal, has argued that a lower court’s summary decision agreeing to the disqualification was wrong and the questions in the case are ones to be heard by a jury in trial.

“The Supreme Court has said that there is enough of a question of fact that you should have the right to be heard by a jury,” Gay said.

The result is expected to be a trial in Carteret County Superior Court, but it was too soon to say this week when that may be.

But Gay expects to process to move more quickly now that the Supreme Court has made its opinion.

“It’s going to pick up speed now,” he said.

The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament’s action against Citation has centered on an alleged rule violation involving fishing license requirements for one of the mates working on the boat when the marlin was caught. Mate Peter Wann was found guilty of fishing without a coastal recreational fishing license in November 2010. A notice of appeal was filed and the case is still pending.